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Prince Aladdin Quest (Disney Villains *Almost* Victorious)

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Alexander Sturnn said:
And I hope we can still recruit him.
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Honestly I wouldn't mind if he and a bunch of other people stay separate from us. One of the problems with these sorts of quests is as more and more persons of interest (tm) show to be added to the main cast, more and more balls have to be juggled simply making the quest more cumbersome for everyone involved.
 
jwolfe_beta said:
Honestly I wouldn't mind if he and a bunch of other people stay separate from us. One of the problems with these sorts of quests is as more and more persons of interest (tm) show to be added to the main cast, more and more balls have to be juggled simply making the quest more cumbersome for everyone involved.
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On one hand, maybe.

On the other, right now, we be needin' more Hero Units currently.
 
jwolfe_beta said:
Honestly I wouldn't mind if he and a bunch of other people stay separate from us. One of the problems with these sorts of quests is as more and more persons of interest (tm) show to be added to the main cast, more and more balls have to be juggled simply making the quest more cumbersome for everyone involved.
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Understandable, while I want him to join the cast, I'll appreciate a level of distance in other storylines.

We may intersect at times, but never join. Like a good TV crossover.
Alexander Sturnn said:
On one hand, maybe.

On the other, right now, we be needin' more Hero Units currently.
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Let us wait for the Chips to Fall where they may.
 
Technically he does exist in a secret society with Thomas Edison, Jules Verne and Gustave Eiffel if you take Tomorrowland into account. It did say it happened at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, but since Tomorrowland is Gridlock I'm not 100% sure
 
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The Adventure of the Delayed Detective (Canon)
  • Sidestory
    • The Adventure of the Delayed Detective​

    Turn 3: Imprisoned in the Underworld.

    What does Hades want of Holmes and Watson? Information from France and the Mirror Kingdoms, where they are from, why they were in Athens.
    1d2: 1! Holmes diplomacy check, 3d100+12: 44, 14, 64! Basic information about the kingdoms, Hades is utterly confused by Holmes's various references to things from home, and understands why they were in Athens.

    Holmes Intrigue check (Hades): DC 50/100/150: 1d100+30: 103! Hades is powerful, arrogant, and justified in both assessments. But also very bitter. Holmes can tell he's hiding stuff, but since it's a god, that doesn't really narrow it down.

    What is Watson doing? 1=Talking with Zagreus, 2=Talking with Persephone, 3=Exploring the Underworld. 1d3: 1! Watson Diplomacy check: 1d100+15: 83! They bond over past experiences as fighters, although Zagreus is somewhat confused by Watson's army stories.

    Hades opinion of Holmes and Watson: 1d100+18: 54! Decently pleased, but requires them to stay for a few more months.

    Turn 4: Imprisoned in the Underworld.

    Watson and Hades. Hades wants to know about Holmes, about their home, and about their hopes.
    Watson diplomacy check, 1d100+15+25, 2d100+15: 104, 46, 71! Hades can scarcely get Watson to shut up about how great Holmes is and how much he admires his friend. He explains a bit more about London, but not really to Hades's desire, and explains to Hades how he would like to travel to someplace safe and stable - like (1d2: 1) Agrabah.

    What is Holmes doing? 1=Talking with Zagreus, 2=Talking with Persephone, 3-4=Exploring the Underworld. 1d4: 3! He visits (1d4: 4!) Elysium! He meets Demodamas, Solon, and Zeuxis!
    Holmes Diplomacy checks (3d100+12): 63, 87, 22! Respects Demodamas, gets along great with Solon, and fights with Zeuxis.

    Hades opinion of Holmes and Watson: 1d100+29: 45! Still wants to hold them captive.

    Holmes and Watson appeal (DC 100): 1d100+12+15+4: 53! Failure!

    Turn 5: Imprisoned in the Underworld.

    What do Holmes and Watson do? 1=Visit Hades, 2=Visit Zagreus, 3-4=Visit Persephone, 5=Explore the Underworld. 1d5: 5! They visit (1d4: 3!) The Mourning Fields. They meet Dido, Eriphyle, and Caeneus.
    H&W Diplomacy checks: 3d100+12+15: 98, 118, 49! They get along wonderfully with Dido and Eriphyle, but Caeneus isn't in much of a mood to talk.

    Hades mood: 35.

    Holmes and Watson appeal for release, DC 65: 1d100+12+15+11: 92! Hades is busy with his duties and his wife, and believes that the two have sufficiently paid for their crimes.

    Hades final opinion of Holmes and Watson: 1d100+3+11: 112! Explosion: 58! Final: 170! Hades adores the two, trusts their opinion, and grants them his blessing.

    Holmes's opinion of Hades: 1d100+12+17: 99! Temperamental, brilliant, and mercurial. In other words, he reminds him of himself.
    Watson's opinion of Hades: 1d100+15+17: 70! He's a god of death, something that Watson has devoted himself to countering. But on the other hand, he's been a good host and he's fun to talk with.

    Holmes and Watson each receive the trait "Favored of the Underworld": +15 to all rolls with Hades, +6 Occult, +6 to rolls with Greek monsters and other supernatural heavyweights as they can scent the Underworld upon the two of them. They can also ask Hades for one favor.
    Do they ask for a ride to the borders of Hades' realm? DC 45 to not ask, 1d100+14+15: 111! Critical success! They don't ask, but Hades offers Zagreus as an escort to the borders of his realm.

    Turn 6: Traveling to Agrabah
    RER: 1d100+7: 46! Boring journey, no modifiers.
    Travel check, DC 30/60: 1d100+18+15+17: 126! Critical success! They reach the borders with ease, and bid Zagreus farewell.
    What has Zagreus learned from Holmes? 1d3: 1! Martial! Holmes teaches Zagreus the value of observation and forethought before entering a fight. Zagreus martial check: 1d100+17: 110! Zagreus gains +2 Martial! Trait earned: "Think, then punch": On a successful observation check, Zagreus can add 25% of his Intrigue to his Martial roll, rounded down.
    What has Zagreus learned from Watson? 1d3: 2! Diplomacy! Watson teaches Zagreus the importance of a calm and dignified manner to earn the trust of others. Zagreus diplomacy check: 1d100+11: 53! Zagreus gains +1 Diplomacy!

    Holmes and Watson traveling to Agrabah, DC 50/100: 1d100+18+15: 123! They make excellent progress across Asia Minor, and end the turn around the area of Antioch. Next turn will see them try and reach Agrabah.

    What are their plans? 1=Work as a doctor, 2=Work as a detective, 3=Work as a chemist, 4=Work as a scribe. 1d4: 1! Doctor work!
    Watson learning check: 1d100+18+20: 113! They make a lot of money, +10 to the Agrabah journey roll!

    Six. Months. For six months my friend Sherlock Holmes and I were delayed in the Greek Underworld by Hades, Lord of the Dead. Was it curiosity? Punitive punishment for humiliating Zagreus? Who can truly say, apart from Hades himself? Nevertheless, it was an illuminating and educational experience.

    Hades...was not what either of us were expecting, to say the least. His features - nay, his entire body - were somewhat amorphous, shifting with his moods and thoughts, as though the idea of Hades was more concrete than his physical form. With that being said, there were some constants to the god. When at ease, his skin was a sort of bluish-silver, almost grey, that in a mortal would indicate severe silver poisoning. Any who thought that Hades was weakened would quickly be forced to reassess their impression as the god was, ironically, an incredibly vital and energetic person. His patter reminded me of some of the street-side buskers back in London, trying to sell dodgy cigarettes or off-brand Swiss watches.

    His wife Persephone couldn't have been more of his opposite. A voluptuous brunette woman, Persephone was as motherly as her husband was intimidating. Her hair was filled with plant life that shifted with her mood - flowers when she was at ease, thorns and briars when irritated or angry, sprigs and buds when surprised. It was utterly fascinating to men of science such as Holmes and myself to observe how it changed with her temperament.

    But not too closely, because just as the plants reflected Persephone's mood, so did the flames reflect that of Hades. Holmes found it somewhat ironic that they turned red when the Lord of the Underworld was angered, as blue flames are hotter, but I made the observation that anger tended to make one lose focus. I theorized that the blue reflected Hades' keen mind, and red when he lost control and, consequently, his focus.

    Neither of us were bold enough to ask Hades about that.

    I saw little of Holmes for the first two months we were in the Underworld. Hades dominated most of his time, leaving me to my own devices. Those occasions when we spoke, Holmes informed me that Hades was most curious about the world from which we had arrived. He was sadly unable to share much, as Hades kept losing his temper as Holmes told him how, by the time we had lived, most of their achievements had been lost, distorted, or reduced to myth and legend.

    My ears still ring at the memory of his outraged roar after Holmes told him about the classical painting Rape of Persephone. The goddess herself was infuriated, and told us in no uncertain terms how it had been her choice to stay with Hades. As she had put it, "have you seen this place? Where do you think he even got the pomegranate?" Her hair was infused with the deadliest of plant life as she swore the most inventive of revenges against the various gods and goddesses who had slandered the two to their worshipers.

    That little hiccup aside, their conversations appeared to be rather cordial. Hades also asked Holmes about France and the Mirror Kingdoms, of which Holmes could say little that Hades did not already know, and our purpose in traveling to Athens. He was bemused to learn that Greece had been heavily influenced by the British Empire during our time, and made a curious comment about how it would be only by the greatest of misfortunes that the EITC would ever gain a foothold there.

    During this time, I spent most of mine developing a better acquaintance with Zagreus, the godling Hades had dispatched to collect us. The firstborn, and currently only, child of Hades and Persephone, from what I could tell his domain was conflict. Given that Persephone's domain was Spring, my limited education in botany nonetheless sufficed to inform me as to why the offspring of a union between Death and Spring would be focused around Struggle.

    When not attempting to remove my head from my neck, I discovered that the lad was rather pleasant company, if somewhat pompous and arrogant as befitted a god newly come into his strength. He was filled with questions about my life, and was quite excited to learn that I had served as a soldier. He was not nearly as confused about the weapons I had used than I thought he would be, but he informed me firearms were present in this new world, if extremely rare and concentrated in the hands of only a few factions.

    As time passed, it became my time to be interrogated by Hades. He deemed it necessary for us to stay longer in the Underworld ("The first two months were for shooting my bubba-boy; these are for beating the snot out of him"), and I became his personal guest while Holmes was given free reign to explore whatsoever pleased him there. "Just watch out for Spot," was the only restriction, "he's under orders to allow nobody to leave except with my say-so." That we would be immediately devoured by the elephantine hound should we attempt to bypass the threshold went without saying.

    Hades asked of me many of the same questions that he asked Holmes, a standard interrogation technique that we had seen practiced at Scotland Yard and even used ourselves during the occasional interrogation. He asked me about Holmes and my friendship with him, how we had come to meet and what it was we did, and I fear I may have come close to irritating him, such was my loquaciousness on the topic. In my defense, I have been friends with Holmes for a very long time, and much of my livelihood came from the books I wrote about his cases and adventures. "Enough, geez!" he had cried at the end. "You're worse than Plato when it comes to being a chatterbox!"

    The realization that many Greek heroes and other notables were present almost caused me to ask Hades' leave to track them down for conversation, but Hades was not yet done with me. He asked more about our time and London, and while I sought to indulge him, he quickly became bored by having to stop and ask for definitions every other minute as I referred to yet another personage or technology with which he was unfamiliar.

    Our conversation about the plans of my friend and myself was far more productive; Hades held a deep understanding of the neighboring lands, and was able to suggest kingdoms that best fit what we were looking for. "You wanna avoid France," he said, "place has more nutjobs than a granola bar, and Frollo'd take off your head as soon as look at you. Ol' Grimmy spends all her time staring in those mirrors of hers, hard to get even a lick of privacy there. And the less said about Russia, the better. No," he continued, "you're better off heading somewhere like Agrabah or Ababwa. Nice places, sweet kids, bit stand-offish." He muttered something about not having gotten any invitations to the coronation of the new prince of Ababwa, "bloody Genie," but I did not ask for further elucidation. "Yeah, Agrabah's probably your best bet," he concluded. "Right next door, decent rulers, probably got work for a professional snoop."

    I thanked him for his recommendation, and resolved that we should visit there next.

    Holmes, for his part, was greatly enjoying his time at the Elysium Fields. Upon his return, he regaled me with tales of conversations with the honored Greek dead. Three stood out to him: Demodamas, Solon, and Zeuxis; the first two for their scintillating conversation and deep insights into life and the world, and the last one for his overweening arrogance and pride in his artwork. He and Holmes almost came to blows before Solon was able to pull them apart; suffice to say, Holmes deeply disliked Zeuxis.

    Solon in particular was thrilled to learn that his wisdom was remembered even to our time. "Count no man happy," he had intoned, "until the end is known." He had then grinned. "I'm a very happy man indeed!" More solemnly, "I shall pray for your own happiness." Holmes had thanked him for the consideration before returning to the throne of Hades.

    Neither of us were particularly happy; we had asked Hades for permission to leave the Underworld, with the thought that we had paid for our crimes. Hades, still indignant over a certain matter involving the monster Typhon, had refused point-blank. Persephone counseled us to wait until her husband's mood had improved; in the meantime, she suggested that we could court his favor by raising our standing with the dead of the Underworld.

    So Holmes and I set out to do precisely that. The two of us journeyed deep into the bowels of the Underworld, and after two weeks' travel found ourselves in The Mourning Fields, the final resting place of those who died having wasted their lives on unrequited love. Holmes stumbled upon crossing the threshold, and muttered something about 'The Woman'; I was flooded with memories of my own wives, both the one who had died and the one who had been left behind in the Great Upheaval. Suppressing tears, we both straightened as we felt as though we had passed some sort of test, and found ourselves able to traverse the Mourning Fields with ease.

    As the name suggests, most of the inhabitants were utterly self-absorbed mourning for their lost loves; even shouting into their ears did little more than increase the frequency of their tears. A few, however, had the presence of self to acknowledge others, and I quickly found myself in conversation with a woman who still bore the weeping wounds from her murder. Eriphyle, as she introduced herself, had been murdered by her son, something that she had known would happen when she encouraged her husband to join the expedition of the Seven against Thebes.

    "Why are you here?" I asked Eriphyle.

    "For the love of my son," she replied, still weeping.

    "Did he not murder you?" I said, perplexed. "Why expend your tears upon him?"

    She answered with a question. "Have you any children, Doctor?" I shook my head in the negative. "Should you have children of your own one day, you shall understand."

    After speaking to her for a few more minutes, I took my farewell. But before I could leave, she took my hand. It was cold. "Thank you, Doctor Watson. Thank you for bringing a little light down here into my life."

    My breath caught in my throat, and it was all I could do to stammer out a short "You're quite welcome," before rambling off to find Holmes.

    I discovered him in a most peculiar situation. Never before have I seen my friend in tears, yet here he was kneeling on the ground looking upwards, tears streaming down his face as a beatific expression shone upon it.

    "Holmes! Are you well? What is wrong?" I exclaimed in concern.

    Holmes merely smiled. "You just missed something remarkable," he said as if commenting upon the weather.

    "And that would be?"

    "Dido of Carthage, ascending to Elysium."

    My eyes widened. "...how?!"

    Holmes shrugged. "I wish I knew. We met, we spoke about how she was betrayed. Something I said seemed to trigger a realization in her. She smiled, thanked me, and fled to the entrance. But as she did, her scars from her death vanished, and-"

    "And she flew outta here like a bat outta hell! I'd know, what with being the Lord of the Dead." Holmes and I both jumped, startled at Hades's sudden appearance. I was the first to recover.

    "Lord Hades," I inclined my head towards him.

    He raised a finger and waggled it. "Eh eh eh! What did I say about that 'lord' business?"

    "...er, not to say it?"

    "Correctomundo!" Hades grinned. "Gotta say, Holmesey, I've been running things down here for a long, long time, and I have never - and I mean NEVER - seen that happen before. Heck, I didn't even know it could happen!"

    Holmes rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. "I'm not sure what I can say, Lor-er, Hades."

    "Don't gotta say nothing, Holmesey-boy," Hades patted him on the back, "don't gotta say a word. You got the knack, Mortal, no two ways about it." He sat back in mid-air, reclining as though atop a chair. "You make things different. It's one of the things I like about ya, Holmesey." He gave me a glance. "Even you got your moments, Watson. Do you have any idea how long it's been since Eriphyle even talked to someone, let alone smiled? No, don't answer that," he interrupted me as I began to open my mouth, "I'll just say it's been a really long time-never. She's never smiled."

    A softer cast came across Hades' face. "You know, I never asked for this gig. Got assigned by Baby Brudda Zeus. But, figured since I had it, might as well do it right. One of the reasons I did what I did, couldn't stand seeing the other Olympians keep mucking things up on Olympus." He grumbled something about "damned baby shower," then continued in a louder voice. "So it means a lot to me when someone makes my job easier. And seeing people move onto better and brighter things? I might be the God of the Dead, but far be it from me to deny someone a little life around here, ya know what I mean?"

    "For whatever it's worth, Hades," Holmes said, "you always had the better reputation when compared to most of the other gods, insofar as it came to managing your domain."

    "Huh. That's nice to know." Hades shrugged. "Anyway. You two have been good guests, and you've done me a favor. Only fair if I return it." Holmes and I glanced at each other, barely daring to breathe as we waited for him to finish what we dearly hoped he was going to say.

    "So!" Hades rubbed his hands together. "You join the missus and myself for one more meal. Then I'mma lettin' ya get out of here. Hell, I'll even let Zagreus walk you guys to the Bosporus, you'll have a hard time crossing it without his help. And never let it be said that Hades doesn't repay his debts. You two helped Dido, did me a favor. So you guys get 1 favor from me. Just one. UseofthisfavorcanonlyberedeemedbyHades;thisfavorcannotbeexchangedforcashcreditorchecks." He finished in a blistering volley of words that we could barely understand. Still, we nodded.

    "Thank you very much; you have been a kind host." Holmes spoke for the both of us.

    "Ah, think nothing of it," Hades waved it off. "Now, whaddya say we head up to the Throne Room? If my nose don't deceive, Persephone's making hazelnut soup!"

    ~~~

    And so it was that our sojourn to the Underworld came to an end. Upon distracting Cerberus with a deftly-thrown steak, Zagreus quickly ushered us past the hound and into the tunnel that led up to the surface near the city of Thebes.

    "I can take you to the other side of the Strait," Zagreus informed us, "but then you're on your own."

    "Why, exactly, is the Bosporus Strait considered so dangerous?" Holmes mused.

    "Oh, it's not that dangerous," Zagreus said. "The problem is the sea witch, Ursula doesn't like it when people cross her ocean without paying the proper toll."

    "The what?"

    Once he informed us about the nature of the witch who had usurped the domain of Poseidon, we thanked him profusely for his aid.

    "You should know by now that nothing is free in the Underworld," Zagreus informed us. "I have a toll of my own."

    "That would be?" I asked him warily.

    Zagreus turned to Holmes, an eager gleam in his eyes. "Can you please teach me how to fight like you do?"

    Holmes blinked. This was...unexpected.
    ~~~
    After crossing the Bosporus and giving Zagreus his promised lessons (to which he took with frightening ease), we began the trek across the mountains of Asia Minor, or what Holmes and I knew as the homeland of the Ottoman Empire. Which brings us to the now. I write this chronicle sitting in the shade of a pomegranate tree at an inn in what Holmes believes to be Antioch, or the closest equivalent in this strange world. Between Hades's provisions and my own medical skills, remaining well-supplied has been a simple matter. Holmes and I seem no less for the wear from our experience in the Underworld, although we have both noticed a certain clarity of thought and vision. Residue of the Air, perhaps? Regardless, we will remain here for another week while I maintain my practice and restore our reserve of coin. And from thence, to Agrabah. I can scarcely wait.

    A/N: Well, that was fun. Now we're all caught up! Have I mentioned yet how much I love this quest? Having the opportunity to create crossovers like this is priceless.
    Quick note: I know that Zagreus's domain isn't conflict, but Watson isn't exactly a classical scholar.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • Ok...

    So, apparently Hades is mellow as hell as long as you don't get on his bad side and we need to reach out to him asap.

    Not what I expected to ever type... NEAT!

    Maybe we can meet up with Hercules and friends to negotiate some sort of accord?

    Also... Sherlock and Watson in Agrabah?!? We need spies there now, now, now!!!

    Assuming this becomes canon of course.
     
    silvershark said:
    From my understanding, and I could be wrong about this, quite a few villains have been mellowed out now that they've won and are now essentially running a whole country.
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    There's a great deal of alternative character interpretation going on. For Hades it's a bit more obvious as we're using so many positive concepts for Disney's Hades, who is not this quest's Hades.
     
    Marlin said:
    There's a great deal of alternative character interpretation going on. For Hades it's a bit more obvious as we're using so many positive concepts for Disney's Hades, who is not this quest's Hades.
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    Don't get me wrong, Hades is still the petty, spiteful, vindictive, and short-tempered tyrant we all love to hate, at least imo; even in the omakes, he just imprisoned Holmes and Watson for six months for the crime of defending themselves from Zagreus, and only got out because of some excellent diplomacy rolls, plus a super-crit in swinging Hades' opinion of them.

    There are a few changes; Disney Hades wasn't married to Persephone and didn't have a kid. Temp has said that Hades is coming to realize how much work he has accumulated for himself by imprisoning the gods, even being forced to release Thanatos last turn to keep up with reaping duties. It's somewhat mellowed him as he tries to actually do his job. And I did take a few cues from the mythological version, who as Holmes pointed out was one of the few Greek gods to actually focus on his domain and not mess around with mortals (to say nothing of his faithfulness to his wife.)
     
    So, Disney actually made a three musketeers cartoon film starring Mickey Mouse, Donald, and Goofy. Set in France with Pete as the Big Bad. Do we want to throw a France with Pete in charge onto the mess, or is it too late for that?
     
    TirelessTraveler said:
    (to say nothing of his faithfulness to his wife.)
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    Went both ways in that regard. A nymph once tried to seduce Hades (while smack talking Persephone at the same time). Not only did he apparently refuse her advances, Persephone turned said nymph into a mint plant as punishment.

    Yeah, don't mess with Dread Persephone (that was how the Greeks referred to her in various literature).
     
    TirelessTraveler said:
    Don't get me wrong, Hades is still the petty, spiteful, vindictive, and short-tempered tyrant we all love to hate, at least imo; even in the omakes, he just imprisoned Holmes and Watson for six months for the crime of defending themselves from Zagreus, and only got out because of some excellent diplomacy rolls, plus a super-crit in swinging Hades' opinion of them.

    There are a few changes; Disney Hades wasn't married to Persephone and didn't have a kid. Temp has said that Hades is coming to realize how much work he has accumulated for himself by imprisoning the gods, even being forced to release Thanatos last turn to keep up with reaping duties. It's somewhat mellowed him as he tries to actually do his job. And I did take a few cues from the mythological version, who as Holmes pointed out was one of the few Greek gods to actually focus on his domain and not mess around with mortals (to say nothing of his faithfulness to his wife.)
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    While there are similarities to Disney's Hades, the core is gone. Hades wanted to rule the cosmos. He hates the dead he manages, not just the job. He's also a decent diplomat, like absurdly good when he wooed the Fates, his first scene with Zeus, or when interacting with Hercules and Meg.

    The Disney Hades seems unlikely to be utterly enthusiastic about helping a dead soul into paradise. That's the only thing I really have a problem with in the omake.
     
    Consider that the Muses were biased narrators, and that someone else could have influenced what they said about Hades. Like, oh, I dunno. Demeter? Also, the dead that he fireballed were in the Styx. Implying that they didn't have the coin to properly cross over and reach a final resting place. Naturally, no one gets in on a freebie, and Hades was needing to vent a bit after dealing with Zeus and the other gods. So, fireball to the face for said soul.
     
    TirelessTraveler said:
    His wife Persephone couldn't have been more of his opposite. A voluptuous brunette woman, Persephone was as motherly as her husband was intimidating. Her hair was filled with plant life that shifted with her mood - flowers when she was at ease, thorns and briars when irritated or angry, sprigs and buds when surprised.
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    Punderworld Persephone?
     
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